RUDY

 

The city was covered with a tinge of snow that had mostly melted away. The buildings and the streets were still wet, giving them an odd smell I’d never experienced before.

Nighttime in the city was strange. The lights came from the buildings instead of the stars. The darkness was in the alleyways instead of between the trees. Despite how different my surroundings looked, there was a certain sense of familiarity from everything that I couldn’t explain.

I was comfortable enough in the city. Spending time with York and then Saxon was more pleasant than I ever imagined. But now Vesper and I had to focus on the real reason we came here. We had to finally get some answers.

“He’s a strange fellow,” I said.

“Who?”

“Who do you think? Saxon.”

“Have you never met a Beta before?”

“I’ve known plenty of Betas. Him being a Beta doesn’t matter to me. Saxon is a different character entirely regardless of what he is. You don’t think so?”

I looked up at Vesper. He kept staring straight ahead as the smirk formed on his lips.

“Saxon is interesting. I’m just glad he was willing to tell us what we needed to know.”

“Hopefully something actually comes of this.”

The streets were empty as we made our way down the sidewalk.

I looked in the alleys and saw some people huddled together. They leaned up against the walls with their arms wrapped around themselves as they tried to stay warm.

“Is this what it’s like in the city?” I sighed. “All of these buildings and there are still homeless who can’t find any shelter.”

“It’s not like this all over Dirge.”

“It’s a shame, really. These people would be better off in the Timberlands. The trees would provide them shade. They could sleep on the grass instead of the hard concrete—”

“And what kind of protection would they have from the bitter cold?”

I stopped for a second to think about it. Vesper kept moving until I finally realized I wasn’t walking with him. He spun on his heel and looked at me.

“Rudy?”

I shook my head and sighed again as I caught up with him.

“I suppose you’re right,” I said.

“Don’t worry too much. The city is changing.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve heard stories. Rumors from Kai. He has a lot of tales to tell, if you remember.”

“I remember,” I said, snickering.

“Those who are better off are doing their part to make sure there are fewer people sleeping on the streets. They’re making progress from what I was told.”

“It seems like they still have a long way to go.”

“They’ll eventually save all of them. One day, nobody will have to worry about having to live the lives they have to endure.”

“I hope so…”

Vesper and I kept moving down the street.

Besides the homeless people, there were numerous men lurking underneath the streetlights. Just from a quick glance I could tell they were up to no good. Even in the city, the pack mentality still endured for some apparently.

We moved a few blocks from the bar where we parted ways with Saxon. We eventually came to the address that Saxon had given us.

“Is this it?” I asked.

I looked up at the small storefront. There were iron bars in front of the windows. Even if there were no bars, I wouldn’t be able to see inside because of how blackened the windows were. The sign above the door was unmarked.

“This is it,” Vesper said. “It matches the description Saxon gave us.”

He gave me one last look, a half-smirk on his lips to reassure me. I sighed a deep breath through my nose and nodded to him.

Vesper opened the door and stepped inside. I followed right behind him.

The place was small and cramped. There were a couple of lights on the ceiling. They were more than enough to illuminate the entire place. I looked around and saw all of the tools that filled the place. Hammers. Chisels. Flints. The shelves were stocked and the walls were covered.

“I think we’re in the right place,” Vesper said.

“What makes you say that?”

“Look.”

Vesper pointed up at the wall. There were a large set of knives up near the ceiling on display. They weren’t the same knives that we’d encountered but they appeared to be made with the same kind of delicate care.

I was moving toward the wall to examine the knives more closely when someone appeared from a backroom.

“Hello,” the man said. “Can I help you, boys?”

The man had long, flowing blond hair that was dirty. His face and beard were just as filthy. It was hard to tell if his skin was tan or that he just hadn’t washed himself. His clothes were disheveled and wrinkled so much that I would have confused him for one of the homeless I just saw outside.

He wiped his hands and widened his eyes at Vesper and me as he waited for our response.

“We do need your help,” Vesper said. “If you’re Tyrus.”

“I’m Tyrus,” the man said.

“Then you’re the man that can help us. We’re looking for someone.”

“Unless you’re looking for Tyrus, I don’t know if I can be much help to you.”

“I think you can…”

Vesper reached for the knife he was carrying with him this entire time. He pulled the weapon with the small four-inch blade out and placed it down on the table that was right next to Tyrus.

“Did you make this?” Vesper said.

Tyrus picked the knife up and began examining it closely, looking his nose down at it.

For some reason, I wasn’t completely comfortable with the man staring at it. Knowing that he was holding such a dangerous weapon in his hands made me feel an uneasiness in my stomach that I wanted to go away.

“I made this,” Tyrus said. “I would have lied to you and say I didn’t but nobody in Dirge can do work like this. You won’t find anybody in the entire world who can do something like this.”

Tyrus put the blade down and stared at Vesper.

“Where did you get this?” he asked.

“The man who dropped it tried to kill me with it.”

“Is that right?”

Tyrus had a curious look in his eyes, an eyebrow raised as he stroked his beard.

“That’s right,” I said. “He tried to kill me and then he tried to kill Vesper.”

“We need to know who he is,” Vesper said. “We need to get to the bottom of this. Right now, there’s someone out there in the Timberlands. He’s hunting innocents. If we can figure out who he is, we’ll be able to stop him.”

Tyrus looked down at the knife he’d made and sighed a deep breath. He continued stroking his beard in his hand.

“What’s the problem?” I said. “Aren’t you gonna tell us? There’s a dangerous person—”

“That’s the problem,” Tyrus said. “The man who purchased this particular set of knives from me is dangerous. I know that now for sure.”

“Who is he? What’s his name?”

Tyrus took a step toward me. He looked me in the eye then up at Vesper before turning back to me.

“Let me make one thing clear to you,” he said. “I’m not in the business of telling people who my customers are. What people do with the things they buy here, that’s their business. I respect their privacy.”

“You have to tell us,” I said.

“I’ll tell you. But only on one condition.”

“And what’s that?”

“You have to guarantee my safety. You have to guarantee that the man who bought these knives from me won’t come back to kill me. Can you do that for me?”

I looked up at Vesper. Even though I knew there was no other answer to give, I figured we didn’t have much of a choice.

I nodded to Vesper.

“Okay,” Vesper said. “I can—”

“You can’t,” Tyrus interrupted him. “You can’t guarantee that you can protect me.”

“I don’t understand. You sold these knives to someone dangerous and now you’re unwilling to talk about it. You’re the one responsible for putting people in danger—”

“Look,” he said, raising his voice. “I do what I’m asked. When someone walks in with a bag of gold coins, I don’t ask questions. I take the money.”

Tyrus took a step back from both of us.

“You’re not from Dirge,” he said. “I can smell it on you. Everybody here has to do what they can to make ends meet. We don’t have much of a choice around these parts.”

“All right,” Vesper said. “I understand. You have to do what you can. But you can fix this if you just tell us who you got it from.”

Tyrus shook his head.

“I can’t do it,” he said. “If you wanna know who owns this knife, you’ll have to figure it out for yourself.”

“But—”

“Leave,” Tyrus interrupted me. “I don’t got anything else for you.”

Tyrus picked the knife up from the table and tossed it at Vesper. He caught it, holding his stare on the man who refused to cooperate with us.

I kept trying to think of a way to convince him to tell the name but he refused to budge. I was all out of options. And from the look on Vesper’s face, it seemed like he was out of ideas, too.

“Okay,” Vesper said with a nod. “We’ll go.”

“Thank you,” Tyrus responded.

Vesper and I reluctantly left Tyrus’s shop. I looked out into the streets and sighed.

“Now what?” I said. “We might as well be right back where we started.”

“Not necessarily. We know it’s a man who bought these for sure. And it’s a man who’s here in Dirge.”

“Maybe you should’ve convinced him you could guarantee his safety.”

“If Tyrus is fearful of getting in trouble, that means the list of people who it could be is small. Come on. Let’s go talk to Saxon. Maybe he’ll figure something out.”

“That’s as good an idea as any.”

We didn’t have any answers but at least we had something to do. Another meeting with Saxon was our only lead.

We headed back down the street toward the area of the city we just came from.

“You know,” I said. “Maybe we should just—”

Suddenly, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and tackle me. I fell to the ground in a hard thud and grunted in pain.

“Rudy!”

I struggled to break free from the man who was trying to pin me down to the ground.

“Vesper!” I cried out. “Vesper, help!”

Vesper rushed up to me. A sudden blow to my head left me in a daze that made me unable to see clearly.

“Vesper!”

I kept wrestling with the arms around me and finally managed to get away.

“Rudy!”

Vesper helped me back up to my feet. When I straightened up, I was able to see the man who had just attacked me.

A stranger with a mask covering half of his face.

Him…

The look in his eyes. The look in his eyes that I would never be able to forget. He was standing right there in front of me.

“Rudy! Look out!”

I was in so much shock that I wasn’t prepared for another set of arms that wrapped around me.

“Help!” I yelled. “Let me go!”

Another blow to the side of my head sent me reeling. I struggled helplessly as they lifted me into the air. I felt myself being carried into the darkness of the alley right next to us.

“Vesper… Vesper…”

I was too weak to even yell his name out.

I kept staring forward and watched as another masked man held Vesper on the ground.

“Come on,” a voice said behind me. “Let’s get out of here. Now!”

The man Vesper was trying to deal with ignored the voice of the man who was dragging me away.

I was trying to focus but the blow to the head was beginning to take its toll on me. I blinked my eyes and tried to maintain consciousness.

“Vesper…”

I tried again to break free but another thud against my temple quieted me.